Inter Milan £77m windfall could impact three Chelsea transfer decisions amid Romelu Lukaku plan

 When dealing with Inter Milan a year ago, Chelsea moved quickly to tie up a deal for Romelu Lukaku's return to Italy. Todd Boehly and co worked to ensure that the Belgian forward's future was not debated for long after a difficult time under Thomas Tuchel.

With the Serie A side having missed out on a league title to their city rivals AC Milan, a foray into the Champions League knockout stage was not enough to boost their budget after an expensive period under Antonio Conte that saw the club twice break their transfer record amidst the additional issues the landscape of Covid-19 brought.

Chelsea's desire for Lukaku to depart ensured that Inter could afford to bring the striker back to the club on loan, however, and while his return has had both ups and downs, a journey to the Champions League final has followed under Simeone Inzaghi. Lukaku played his part in holding the ball up before feeding it to Lautaro Martinez to cement a 3-0 win on aggregate.

The 2022/23 season has once again seen Inter go without a Serie A title but arriving at the zenith of European competition with Manchester City or Real Madrid left to face, will see the club earn £76.9m in performance-based prize money from this term's competition but could rise to £80.8million should they win the competition. 

That will leave the club in a very different financial position than they have resided in recent years, with stars like Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi being required to depart.